The rise in the use of electric vehicles, particularly electric cars, over the last few years due to environmental and other considerations has created a demand for EVCS to recharge the batteries of such vehicles. Charging stations have now been developed and deployed for residential use as well as commercial and fleet applications in most major markets. Such charging stations are expected to become more commonplace as interest in electric vehicles continues to grow and expand among the general population.
Early models of these charging stations were designed to provide users with only the minimum amount of information necessary for the users to be able to charge their electric vehicles. Most of these early charging stations only had a rudimentary display, typically one or more LEDs or indicator lights, and conveyed only basic information to the users. Nor did these charging stations typically have a human-machine interface (HMI) or other user interface to allow users to interact with the charging stations. Usually the front display of the charging stations had one LED to indicate the power status, another LED to indicate whether charging is proceeding normally, and another LED to indicate the presence of a system fault, and the like. Such basic information, while perhaps adequate for purposes of simply charging an electric vehicle, often left users longing for more detailed and meaningful information.
The above shortcoming is particularly acute in light of the wealth of information that is presently instantaneously available to users via their smartphones and other handheld communication devices. However, replacing existing charging stations with new charging stations that provide enhanced displays and user interfaces is an expensive option that may hold back wider acceptance of electric vehicles.
Thus, a need exists for a way to provide users of existing EVCS with more detailed and meaningful information during the charging process, and particularly for a way to provide users with detailed and meaningful information without having to modify or alter existing charging stations.